Cap One get a bashing...!

[hillards]

For the last 4 weeks I've had 3 calls a day, every day, from two alternating 0800 numbers. 0800 422 0295 and 0800 422 0295. I have backtracked them both to Crapital One.

 

However, ever time I answered I only ever got the engaged tone played to me. Could be something to do with me checking caller display first and not answering until after the 4th ring...

 

Finally, last Thursday, I had someone speak to me. A rather quiet Asian lady asked to speak to Maxine. There's nobody of that name here so I challenged her to identify the company, which she did. I requested that I speak with her supervisor, to complain about the constant calls I had been receiving. She told me there was no supervisor available, amazing how many times you hear that. I told her I was very unhappy and needed to make an official complaint, I had to speak to a supervisor, now. She hung up on me!

 

So, I called the 0800 number. Normally I wouldn't but I hate it when THEY hang up like that. If anyone's going to hang up it's going to be me...

 

The recorded message gave me another 0800 number to call and I got through to some American sounding guy who wouldn't give his name as I didn't have an account number to give him. I explained my position, told him I had had dealings with the Executive Office in Nottingham on a similar situation and I wanted all calls to my number stopped.

 

He said fine, I gave him the number. He typed something in, and said that's it, you will not get any more calls. Yes, I know they tell lies, so I told him quite clearly that if one more call came through I would not only contact Nottingham again, but I would invoice for £35 a call. He said he would note that down, despite me having no account number remember...

 

Friday - 3 calls, Saturday only 2, Sunday 3 calls and another 3 today. So, a nice letter has gone by first class recorded to Nottingham, with an invoice for £350, that being for the 10 calls up to lunchtime today, when I wrote the letter. There has been another call since.

 

I don't have an account with Cap One, so I'm not standing for the hassle they are giving out. Bad enough that Lowell, then Muck Hall, tried telling me I had an old Crap One account that I needed to pay, but couldn't provide anything to back up that claim, without the Crap One muppets calling me about someone else's problems.

 

Just to show that I'm not going to accept a simple apology, I added a footer to the invoice: "Please note that failure to pay this invoice could result in a claim being made in the county court, which may add further costs."

[sillygirl1]

Nice one, they've been hassling me but I have a little ace to play, will be sending them a 7 day notice of legal action on 23rd December..... which I will be able to follow up in January. Won't say more now but will post on my own thread around the time I send the letter.

[cerberusalert]

Nice to see the spirit of Xmas is here. The Bells are ringing, party invites sent & as usual the goose is going to be well & truly cooked

[hillards]

Despite sending the letter, and invoice, by first class recorded delivery, the calls are still coming in today. Track & Trace says no results yet, so I'll keep looking for some confirmation, otherwise the Post Office are likely to get a letter from me too.

 

Of the five calls logged since I sent the invoice, I have only spoken to someone once, the other 4 were all 'engaged' tone. Yes, I am answering them, mainly so I can give them another blast about disturbing my peace...

 

Oh, the spirit of Christmas..., bah, humbug!

[willtheywontthey]

am awaiting result of FOS adjudicator into mainly phone call issues - any day or week or month now... so far Capital One have agreed with FOS not to proceed with 'collections' (whatever that means!) BUT they have sent me a letter stating somehting about we have to new default payment penalties blah and also C*apital One have sent me a statement with amount to pay (now well over 2k overdue). They are still adding late payments onto my credit file and charging astonomical amount of interest - despite being in 'dispute' and being investogated.

 

Once the FOS make a decision and state C*pital One are a wonderful company I guesss the calls will begin again as will threats etc etc. It would be good if a test case was taken out against C*pital One as they seem to be the main ones with absolutely no chance of making a cca stick (all of them on here CAG - are identical and patched together in some sort of mad blue peter attempt to make one 'earlier' )

 

Anyhow good luck with the calls - at least you are not with them so you have a chance. Have you made a complain to Ofcom.co.uk - online (I use the silent call complaint bit)

[hillards]

Needless to say, the Post Office track and trace has not yet confirmed delivery - why do we pay extra to get a bad service?

 

I have reported them to OfCom, direct to the person handing the Ofcom initiated investigations into this type of call. Of 24 calls logged in 10 days, I've only had someone on the line on three occasions. All the rest were playing the recording of the engaged tone when I picked up.

 

On Tuesday I hit a peak of 4 calls in one day, but on both Friday and Saturday I only got two. Nothing at all so far on Sunday. Maybe "Maxine" has paid them?

 

No matter what they may say, I'll be chasing them for the invoice I sent in - with another about to be despatched to them. At £35 a call and 2.4 calls per day (average), I could be getting £588 a week from them... I must not forget to add the £1.08 it costs for each first class recorded letter too.

[surprise]

With Cap One they sign for their recorded delivery in bulk, so unless your on the first page you don't always get a signature. You can ring Royal Mail though and ask the position.

[hillards]

With Cap One they sign for their recorded delivery in bulk, so unless your on the first page you don't always get a signature. You can ring Royal Mail though and ask the position.

Yes, I know about the bulk delivery. Just a pity the Royal Mail can't organise themselves to show an item has been delivered when you have paid for the extra service though.

 

It's all done with bar codes, they could scan the page that's been signed for and then apply all the individual item codes to that one 'signature'. Not Rocket Science, and something I've complained to RM about before.

 

Just another source of annoyance when you're trying to deal with companies like Crap One.

[hillards]

Wow - they let me have a lie-in today, 12:47 before the first call...

 

No news from Nottingham at all. They are due another invoice. Perhaps I'll send a statement too, showing 'payment overdue' against the previous one.

 

However, the Post Office website now shows that my letter, sent first class/recorded on the 15th, was delivered - on the 22nd! If Crap One complain about being invoiced for calls made in the last week, I suggest they consider taking the Royal Mail to court for failing to deliver promptly. I'll still slap them with an invoice for the calls.

[palomino]

Royal Mail state that recorded delivery can take up to 15 days to be delivered.

Any complaints will fall on deaf ears.

 

As a general point the concept of recorded delivery is a joke. I have had several recorded delivery items sent without the delivery being recorded. I complained once - and was told that I should have sent it recorded delivery!

The sooner they are privatised the better.

[hillards]

They're back in action, two calls in 10 minutes again. And, to add to the fun, my step-daughter has had a letter to say that her Cap1 account has been returned from the DCA as she's using CCCS - so I guess they'll call about that too.

 

Suits me fine, I'll just keep invoicing them at £35 a throw, especially when the calls are not being picked up at their end still. Both todays have given me the engaged tone when picked up.

 

Wonderful that all this is going on over Christmas, with the boot on the other foot this time - me charging them! DCA's sending out threat-o-grams that are impossible to deal with during a holiday period, but now it's their Exec office who are unable to respond to my demands - and I'm loving it!

[Birmo0803]

lol, i recive around 3-5 calls a day too. But from debitas, i have requested them to only contact me by mail, hmm gets me thinking. should i quit my day job and just charge these buggas! =D

[drinkupretty]

Are you able to charge them for harassing calls? Because they have been phoning me 3-4 times a day and also kept phoning my Dad even though I haven't lived at his for 3 years and updated all my info when I moved. I told them to update my info again, they lie and say it has been done but when I phone back to confirm it has not. Is there a template letter I can use to charge them for each call?

[hillards]

Are you able to charge them for harassing calls? Because they have been phoning me 3-4 times a day and also kept phoning my Dad even though I haven't lived at his for 3 years and updated all my info when I moved. I told them to update my info again, they lie and say it has been done but when I phone back to confirm it has not. Is there a template letter I can use to charge them for each call?

 

If you read the thread you'll find that they are calling me when they want to talk to someone else, nothing to do with me at all. That is why I'm sending them invoices for wasting my time. Most of the calls have nobody there, which is VERY annoying when they've got me out of bed to answer the phone.

 

There is a difference if they are phoning you, or a previous address, because they want to speak to you. You can't charge them for calling when they are doing it correctly.

 

My argument is that I have no idea who this Maxine is they call for on my number, and despite writing to them, first class and recorded, they have ignored my, quite genuine, request to remove my number. They need teaching a lesson, and I've no reason not to hassle them.

 

I decided on a charge of £35 per call, there is no template letter, it's not 'normal' to do this. So far they've run up a bill of over £1,400 in my eyes, simply through being ignorant.

[noomill060]

Ive read a thread before, where a Cagger invoiced a DCA for their idiot calls.

 

Wrote them a letter stating that they were prepared to offer a training service, where they agreed to accept collection calls from their staff and provide a "Simulated Real Life Rogue Debtor" telephone experience, complete with foul langauge, time wasting and an utterly unreasonable and obnoxious person to speaker to for a fee of £25 per call.

 

Stated that no written agreement was needed and all they had to do was make a collection style call to confirm the contract.

 

If they did call, that would considered acceptance and the "Simulated Real Life Rogue Debtor" telephone experience would commence forthwith for the stated fee.

 

In the end they DID in fact pay the invoice at the stated fee.

 

(The Cagger had to issue a small claim, but the DCA settled out of court!)

 

I wish I could find the thread. Bloody hilarious!

[hillards]

Ive read a thread before, where a Cagger invoiced a DCA for their idiot calls.

Just the sort of thing I am trying to do - the biggest problem is that there are so few of these calls resulting in speaking to someone. Of the 42 calls I've logged since one of the muppets told me my number had been removed from their system, there have only been three occasions where there has been a person on the line when I've picked up. My annoyance, and therefore the charge, is for wasting my time with calls that are designed to disturb but you don't get the satisfaction of telling their operative what you think of their company.

(The Cagger had to issue a small claim, but the DCA settled out of court!)

My claim to date is over £1,400, based on the 2-3 calls a day they make, at a rate of £35 per call, as advised to them in writing. This is almost at the end of a third week of them calling me.

 

I'm not the person they want to speak to, that much has been established. They have been reported to OfCom for the mis-handled calls, on top of my direct claim.

 

Companies like this, who simply do not listen to ordinary people who are being pestered without good cause, need sorting out. I took the time and trouble to call them and spoke to someone who said they had removed my number - but the calls have continued. He lied to me, the company he works for are responsible for his actions, and I intend that they will pay for the lies.

 

I can't help that all this has happened when the postal system is behind, resulting in my letter sent by first class/recorded delivery on the 15th being signed for on the 22nd, a week later. Then the holiday period causing further delays in dealing with my letter - it has not stopped their call centre from calling me, at weekends too.

 

As I have said in an earlier post to this thread, this is NOT for those who are getting legit calls which is where Crap One are trying to reach them. In my case the calls are not for me, yet I'm getting the crap (one), 3 times a day.

 

It will take time to process my invoices, I know that, but I fully intend making the story public, if only to show them up...

[surprise]

The thread you want is "Debt collector agreed to pay me to provide staff training" Gingerheid. Sorry can't do link backs. OAP.

[hillards]

The thread you want is "Debt collector agreed to pay me to provide staff training" Gingerheid. Sorry can't do link backs. OAP.

 

Thanks for that - I've found it - to do a link back is easy, when you are on the page in question you copy the URL (that's the bit at the top of the screen, next to Address, which starts with http:// - you then paste that into your message like :- http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/88437-debt-collector-agreed-pay.html and the link is there for others to follow.

 

I'll have a read through and see if there's anything I've missed.

[hillards]

Just to show that miracles do happen. A week after I sent the first letter to Crap One, I sent one to Nationwide. They had started making calls for my step-daughter, and she's never here to take the calls.

 

These were the annoying ones, where you pick up the phone and they say it's an important message for Ms XXX and not to hang up, but then go on to say you should press a key to continue. But, if you then get to speak to soemone, they will not talk to me about her account, so there's no point in pressing a key, and I do hang up when they say not to. THAT sort of annoying call, 5-6 times a day.

 

So, off went a letter to say 'stop calling', Royal Mail confirm it was delivered the next day, the calls stopped and I got a letter today to apologise for the inconvenience. Problem solved.

 

That is the sort of service I expect, once they know they are annoying the hell out of someone who does not want these sort of calls, because they are not in a position talk to the company about the account, it's not theirs, they should stop calling.

 

Have Crap One taken any notice? No - which is why I am carrying out my logging of calls and billing them for the inconvenience - AFTER they were asked to remove my number from their system, and their rep. saying he had done that.

 

I feel totally justified in asking them to pay for their mistakes and lies. What a great feeling, even if it will take a lot more than a few letters asking for payment to actually get it out of them. That's when I can start to add additional costs for sending statements and letters because they have failed to pay when requested...

[reallymadwoman]

Remember to keep your penalty (sorry, should be reasonable) charges at £12 so the OFT won't be after you!

[noomill060]

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/88437-debt-collector-agreed-pay.html

[hillards]

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/88437-debt-collector-agreed-pay.html

 

Thanks - I quoted that in post 18 of this thread, and was on here until after 3.30am following that story, and the other thread that ran with it...!

 

Some bits of the original thread have been removed, so I don't know the outcome. I heard the DCA had to pay up in the end, brilliant news!

[hillards]

FINALLY! Got a letter this morning from Crap One to acknowledge my letter of complaint.

 

All they've done is to repeat a few bits of what I told them and now tell me they have taken the number off their system. The letter was dated the 31st December, but I was still getting the calls yesterday. However, nothing so far today.

 

Typical of them to suggest that they think they've resolved the issue by writing to me. No mention of my invoices. So - no, the matter is not resolved.

 

I'm also told that they 'train their advisers to provide high standards of service' - what tosh! When there was someone on the line they wouldn't talk to me, in fact the last caller hung up when they heard my voice! The majority of calls have not had anyone on the line when I pick up, which is even more annoying.

 

I'll be writing back - with an updated invoice and statement. No less than 49 calls logged since they told me my number had been removed previously. They've caused me distress and made me ill, not to mention the letters I've had to write - for which there has been a physical cost of course. They've not even suggested refunding me the postage.

 

And, the sting is that I'm not the customer they were chasing. It's not just a request to 'stop calling' as advised to so many on CAG, this is their mistake.

[master woody]

you can complain to Ofcom about "dead" calls, might pee crap one off a bit. have you kept a record of all the dead call?

 

When i say a dead calls this is whn the phone rings and you pick up and get nothing or an engaged tone... apprently they are allowed a %

Edited January 3, 2009 by master woody

[master woody]

linky

 

Silent calls (when you answer the phone, there is nobody there) | Ofcom